PASADENA — Prosecutors Wednesday filed charges against three men in connection with the fatal beating of a 25-year-old Marine in Old Pasadena, officials said.
Jonas Cardenas Ramos, 24, of San Gabriel and Angel Christopher Moroyoqui, 21, of El Monte, were charged with assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Shiara Davila-Morales said. Fernando Sabino Ramirez, 25, of Rowland Heights was charged with involuntary manslaughter and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, along with the special allegations of personally inflicting great bodily injury and that the attack caused the victim to become comatose and suffer brain damage.
Ramos and Moroyoqui were arrested early Tuesday after they arrived at an El Monte hospital with stab wounds, according to Pasadena police and Los Angeles County booking records. Ramirez was arrested late Tuesday afternoon.
Another man, 24-year-old Bania Aguirre of El Monte, was arrested along with Ramos and Moroyoqui on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact, Rojas said. He was released from jail on $20,000 bail pending his initial court appearance.
The charges stem from the fatal beating of Joshua Martinez Monday in the 100 block of East Colorado Boulevard in Old Pasadena. Martinez was a Marine reservist stationed at Camp Pendleton, died from his injuries early Tuesday morning.
He had been at the ix Tapa Cantina restaurant with a group of people when an argument broke out between his group and another, Pasadena police Lt. Terysa Rojas said.
The dispute did not escalate into a fight, and both groups were asked to leave the business, police said.
A short time later, police responded to reports of a “combative subject” when the discovered Martinez unconscious and suffering from a head injury, officials said.
It was not clear Wednesday what the original dispute was about, or whether a weapon was involved in Martinez’s beating.
Ramos and Moroyoqui were expected to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon in Pasadena Superior Court, while Ramirez was due for arraignment Thursday, officials said.